Arsene Wenger has accused Chelsea of hypocrisy after signing up to Uefa’s
Financial Fair Play rules and then spending an astonishing £75million on the
final day of the January transfer window.

The Arsenal manager also said that Roman Abramovich has been “in no man’s land” over the last couple of years with no-one sure whether the Russian billionaire was still committed to investing in the club he bought eight years ago.

“Chelsea supported the financial fair play, but in the morning they announce a £70million loss and in the afternoon buy £75million worth of players,” he said of the Premier League champions' latest round of spending, which came on the day they also revealed their latest financial results, still registering a significant loss.

“Where's the logic in that? It's hard to guess. Officially they vote for the financial fair play, so they can explain much better than I why they do it.”

Chelsea insist they can still comply with the new Uefa regulations, soon to be in force, despite their remarkable return into the transfer market.

Wenger, who famously coined the phrase “financial doping” to refer to Chelsea’s previous bout of spending, said the £50million purchase of Fernando Torres and the £25million signing of David Luiz were highly significant.

“It shows that Chelsea, for a while, Abramovich was a bit in no man's land where nobody could really guess whether he wanted to still invest or not. For a long time now,” Wenger said.

“But, certainly, that has changed. He has decided to put big money in again, and that tells you that certainly in the summer more will come. He is back to full investment.”

Asked whether it was because Abramovich was worried Chelsea were becoming no longer competitive, Wenger said: “I don't know. He can tell you why, but that's how you can read it from the outside. If you don't invest for a while, it looks as if he's not as involved in it any more, doesn't like it as much.”

Wenger predicted that the spending from Abramovich would now continue. “£75million,” he said “it means more will come.”

It was pointed out to the Arsenal manager that his team that started Tuesday night’s match against Everton cost £10million less than Abramovich is committing on the acquisition of Torres.

“That's why I sat in my armchair last night and watched with satisfaction,” he said of how he felt as the deadline day frenzy unfolded. Chelsea and (Manchester) City are special cases. It looks like Chelsea are back on the market, which they weren't for a while.”

Is he afraid? “No,” Wenger said.

However Wenger did acknowledge that the purchase of Torres was a significant move not just because of the cost of the striker - which included a January premium, of course.

“It depends who you buy,” Wenger said. “They (Chelsea) bought a great player who won the World Cup and Euros. After that it's down to how much you're willing to pay for a player. They have the financial potential to do it.”

Everton manager David Moyes was also asked about the level of spending from Chelsea and Liverpool last month. “You’re asking the wrong guy,” he said, tartly, acutely aware of his own club’s financial limitations.

Arsenal will check this morning on injuries to Alex Song - a dead leg - and Theo Walcott who has an ankle problem. Samir Nasri will be out for another three weeks with his strained hamstring.